Fire razes Karet Tengsin slum<\/p>\n
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Two people were injured and over a thousand were left homeless
\nwhen a fire swept through 195 houses in the early morning hours
\nof Monday in the Karet Tengsin area of Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Fire officials said they suspect the blaze was started by a
\ngas stove which exploded in one of the homes. The fire spread
\nrapidly, engulfing nearby buildings in the densely populated slum
\narea.<\/p>\n
The victims, numbering approximately 1,150 people, are
\nsheltering at the local mosque, Jami Al-Mujahirin, and on the
\ngrounds of two low-rent apartment buildings in the area.<\/p>\n
Surrounding residents have built a public kitchen to provide
\nfood for the victims, while a private Muslim medical group has
\nestablished a temporary clinic at the mosque.<\/p>\n
Fire razed hundreds of homes in the same location in 1996 but
\nowners promptly reconstructed the buildings, mostly to rent out.<\/p>\n
Victims said four to five families usually shared one house,
\nin which a family would rent a two-square-meter room for about Rp
\n75,000 (US$7.61) per month.<\/p>\n
\"The houses were mostly of a nonpermanent structure, that's
\nwhy they burned easily,\" said Tri Kurniadi, the deputy district
\nchief of Tanah Abang, who was surveying the site.<\/p>\n
\"The condition of the homes was unsuitable for occupation, and
\nthey were built adjacent to one another, that is very unsafe,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The city administration was planning to build another low-rent
\napartment building on the site to replace the homes in the area,
\nbut it has yet to agree on a price with landowners.<\/p>\n
\"They won't budge from their asking price of Rp 5 million
\n($507) per square meter. That's ridiculous and way too expensive
\nfor our budget,\" Tri said.<\/p>\n
Despite their misfortune, the victims were in good spirits as
\nmost had gone through the first fire in 1996.<\/p>\n
\"I'm not quite sure what am I going to do next, but I'm sure
\nI'll get by,\" 40-year-old Romini said, as she told The Jakarta
\nPost that she ran out of her home in panic with only a towel
\naround her when the fire broke out. She lost all her possessions,
\nbut a neighbor lent her the shirt and skirt she was wearing.<\/p>\n
Another victim, Karsih, said she would wait in the shelter
\nwith her three children until the houses were rebuilt.<\/p>\n
\"That's what I did in 1996. Rent here is cheap and all of my
\ncustomers live around here. I have no plans to move to another
\narea,\" said Karsih, a masseuse.<\/p>",
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